


They didn't miss

by SWModdy



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt, Some comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-02-14 18:03:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13013214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SWModdy/pseuds/SWModdy
Summary: 212th did not miss, now they live with what they have done. So must others around them.





	1. Target eliminated

A moment of stunned silence, a moment of shock, a moment of realization of what they’ve done exactly.

And then the chip wipes it away. ‘Traitor.’ Their mind whispers but none can say if its them or him they mean as they march away to do their duty for the Empire.

They do their duty for the Empire and the Emperor and his right hand man who can never look right at the 212th.

So they never see the ship that lands with one of their own dressed in civilians, never see the blond short haired man desperately search the area before finding the now cold body. Never sees the blond gently cradle the man and hold him tight before he’s picked up and carried away.

And then the year passes.

The 212th report waking up in tears and are unable to say why.

Just the sensation of loss, of grief, of wrong.

They are not the only ones.

The Wolfpack reports the same.

It hits Cody one day in the clone cantina that’s run by those who are like them, battle born and battle hardened.

Like a ton of bricks as he stares at the viewscreen where its frozen on one singular image.

Jedi traitor Kenobi.

His hand pressed against Boil’s shoulderpad, his face frozen in worry as his eyes are on the clones injured side.

General Kenobi’s worried face, saber in hand to defend both himself and an injured trooper under his command.

Their General.

Their friend.

Cody’s breath has frozen just like the screen, just like the world, sound is a dull roar in his ears and he can desperately feel the desire to grab his blaster of his belt…

No.

No!

“We shot down the General.” He wheezes out. “We shot down **our** General.”

The 212th defected that day.

Broke away, the first of many clones breaking the control that had been etched into their brains.

The first of many to join the growing rebellion.

Battle trained clones.

Battle hardened clones.

In the Rebellion.

And they have nothing left to loose.

Not anymore.

They paint the Order’s sigil onto their armors, they pray for forgiveness from long dead members they had once protected and they fight in their names because what is left for them now?

Mighty warriors with mighty blades have fallen and become myths.

So perhaps that’s what the clones jobs are now?

To remind everyone that the Jedi were real, that they were powerful, they were compassionate, they were peacekeepers and legends and came from every species in the galaxy in defense of the galaxy.

So they remind the galaxy and the Empire that the Jedi were real and one day they might rise again.

And if they do, the clones will stand by their side again if they are wanted.

Cody stare sat his vod for a few moments before turning back to the statue looking out over the base. “Here? How?”

“I…when no one came to Coruscant I went to Utapau. I hoped…” Rex looked away then back at the statue. “I found him and took him with me. Jedi’s did pyres and…well that’s what he would have wanted.” He breathed out before nodding to the statue made in deep colored bronze. “But Organa wanted to have a symbol of the fight. Every Rebellion base has one of a Jedi. But this is General Kenobi’s base on Yavin. Because his pyre was here.”

Cody reached out and rested a few hesitant fingers on the boot of the statue of his General as the man himself stared out at the world, shoulders shuddering as tears he long thought had dried up fell down his face. “Oh.”

“…For what its worth vod, I think he’d be proud to know where you are now.” Rex whispered.

Meager comfort but it was something.

Cody’s shoulders shook harder as he grieved for the General and the friend he had shot down.


	2. If I could change the past

Rubbing the smooth stone slowly between his fingers as he felt the warmth of the Force inside it, the man named Darth Vader stared out the window as he sat as far back in his chair as he could.

Behind him he could hear Padme cooing softly at Luke and Leia as she played with them, caring for them, being the mother she had been so unsure she could be and Anakin wished he could join her but he was too busy staring at what had once been the Jedi temple.

Now the Imperial Castle that he was forced to return to when he needed to interact with his master and had no desire to ever walk into for the ghosts that haunted him in it.

In the aftermath of his Fall he had expected Obi-Wan to show up only to suddenly feel as if the Galaxy had been ripped out from under him as the bond that neither had ever cut fully was suddenly ripped out of his mind.

For a moment Anakin had wondered…

Wondered if it was a Hardeen deception once again by Obi-Wan only to see the truth for himself in the footage the clones had brought back.

Obi-Wan was dead.

And Anakin couldn’t look at anyone from the 212th.

Padme had gone into birth not long after Anakin had returned from Mustafar and Anakin had found that he had no option but to lie to her. Because he knew, after the shock of losing Obi-Wan that if he told her the truth then he would lose her and lose the twins if she knew the truth.

If she knew exactly what he had done…

So he lied.

He told her that he had not been at the temple at all.

Told her he had been sent to Mustafar by Palpatine.

She might have sensed a lie but she did not know the full truth and yet Anakin could feel the distance it had brought into their life.

Distance was better then being out of it though. And he still had the twins, two wonderful lights his Luke and Leia.

But no Obi-Wan.

Sometimes Anakin had wondered…

If he had left the Order, would Obi-Wan had been the doting ‘uncle’ of the twins?

He remembered how the other had been with Ahsoka, had seen him in the creche with the children back when the temple was alive and knew that Obi-Wan had adored children. The memory of what he’d done in the council chamber was seared into Anakin’s mind and guilt dogged his steps everyday and sometimes he wondered…

If he could, would he take it back?

He glanced to where Padme was cuddling Leia as Luke built a castle of building blocks.

‘…I would. If I could have left instead, if I knew the result… I would take it all back.’ Anakin sighed a bit as he stood and leaned against he window. He couldn’t even put the other to rest, his body had not been on Utapau, Obi-Wan had been gone and perhaps it had been for the best?

It had taken Anakin days to get to Utapau… would the image of Obi-Wan’s decomposing body had been the last image been what he wanted to carry?

He knew Rex had been the one to take him away, had looked at the holorecordings of it.

So he knew at least Obi-Wan was put to rest somewhere in the wide galaxy.

He pressed the stone to his lips at that thought and for a moment he imagined he could feel the warmth of Obi-Wan’s hands on his shoulders and as he closed his eyes, he was at that hanger on Coruscant, Obi-Wan in front of him with a smile, his warm voice in Anakin’s ears.

“Ani?” Came a soft voice, a gentle hand touching his upper arm and Anakin forced his eyes to open and look down, to meet Padme’s worried eyes as she lifted her other hand to his face to wipe his cheeks. “You’re crying.” She whispered before taking in the stone against his lips with sudden understanding.

Her face softened with that understanding before the corners of her lips turned down in shared mourning.

“…I miss him.” He whispered.

“I know… I miss him too.” She shared quietly, leaning against his arm as they watched Coruscant together while the twins played.


	3. Not the same

Rex barely had time to grab his vod by the arm before he could launch himself at the suddenly terrified scout that had been running his mouth about the Jedi being utter failures at not stopping the Empire from breaking out. “Cody no!” He hissed.

He was aware that outside of Cody’s furious struggling, no one else was making any noise as everyone else around the mess was watching the former commander try to get to the scout.

“Let me go Rex!” Cody roared. “I’m gonna punch out his karki-”

“General Kenobi wouldn’t want you to!” Rex wheezed because kark, Cody had kept in shape clearly because he was stronger than Rex remembered as he held onto his vod with all he had, hands more than likely bruising the others arm.

But that name…

That name froze Cody.

He stopped struggling and the arm Rex wasn’t holding onto fell along his side as he took a sharp snapping breath.

You could still hear a pin drop in the mess and Rex glanced at the quivering kid who had been running his mouth, giving him a stern look and about to give him a dressing down when Cody spoke.

“They trusted us.” He whispered, easily heard in the silence. “They trusted us to guard their backs, gave us their undivided faith as fellow sentient. They never saw it coming when the chips were turned on and we were helpless to resist…” Cody shuddered. “I can still see it, the varactyl running up that cliff as we were cleaning up the remaining droids on the ground since General Kenobi had dealt with Grievous… I’d just handed him back his lightsaber and he was heading back up to the shuttles… he had no idea when the Emperor commed me and gave me Order 66. No warning as I ordered the ion canon to fire on him…”

Rex twitched a bit, hands tensing on Cody’s arm. Neither Cody nor anyone else surviving from the 212th had ever spoken about that day when General Kenobi had fallen with so many of them.

“He fell so fast. The varactyl too… spray of rocks and dust all over and… he hit the ground.” Cody finally looked at Rex, eyes wide. “He was a bloody mess and I couldn’t… Rex I gave that order and I couldn’t…” Cody looked like he was about to crumple to the ground.

Rex let out a shuddering breath then tugged his vod closer, wrapping his arm around his shoulders instead. “…I know. Biochips… I had mine removed you know that…” He swallowed. “…I got a bottle of Corellian rum in my quarters, not quite Corellian brandy like Kenobi favored but we can still drink to his memory…” He smiled shakily.

Cody, shuddering still, gave a small nod and let himself be escorted away by Rex.

The former captain took a chance to glance back at the mess, giving them all a sharp glare before the two continued away through the hallway, walking close.

“…Story’s gonna be all over base by nightfall.” Cody muttered.

“So what. Everyone knows the clones were chipped, that the Emperor was a turdass who turned on the Jedi… and that the Jedi are dead. The least they deserve is the respect to remain resting and not drag their names through the mud now that they can’t defend themselves anymore.” Rex grunted quietly.

Cody just sighed wearily and trudged along.

In the quiet of his mind, Rex let his mind flicker through the faces of Jedi he had known, Jedi who may not have treated the clones always the best but were trying their best to end the war. And he thought about those Jedi who had adored them, told them they were people and they had rights. He thought about Obi-Wan’s small smile and Ahsoka’s bright laugh. He thought about Anakin’s sniggering and Depa’s hidden little laugh and even Mace fond eyeroll.

A small tear rolled down his face.

He never thought he miss them this much.

Because regardless how much Skywalker and Tano was still alive… it wasn’t the same.

It just wasn’t the same anymore.


End file.
